It seems la rentrée is not the only time of the year when we ponder which among the many new restaurants to eat in; there has been a spate of openings of late and by the Palais Royal, Ellsworth popped up on the ground floor of a building that’s currently under works (I thought I’ve got the address wrong when I first noticed the scaffolds) just steps away from its sister restaurant, Verjus, and helmed by Hannah Kowalenko, formerly a sous-chef at the latter.

It was A’s birthday and as a treat, together with a couple of friends, we headed over for a celebratory lunch. The menu was small (just what I like in places I eat) with three options per course, and priced at an affordable €18 for 2-course and €24 for 3-course meal. FYI, in the evening, Ellsworth transforms into a tapas place with small plates to share, and come Sunday, there’s even brunch to be had. Could this be some kind of square peg for the city?

A couple of items on the menu tempted us more than the others, which saw all of us ordering the same starter and dessert, leaving some dishes untried (this is unusual for me, to not grab other things on the menu so to maximise the variation on the table) although when it came to the mains, all three options were served up. (Ps: photos came out a bit wonky as I was testing out a new camera – for my brother – and I was struggling to get the best out of it.)

We started with the ganache of fois gras served with hazelnut, mesclun and some very crunchy croutons. It was a tasty little dish, except all four of us found the ganache a tad too salty for our liking. Still, tasty food meant our plates were nicely cleared. Our appetite whetted, we were keen to see how our mains would come along. In between, we sipped on wine, water, and even a violet-based soda!

A plate of buttermilk fried chicken sitting atop of some kind of coleslaw appeared shortly in front of me, and boy did I wish I have brought some chilli sauce with me. I guess childhood habit dies hard; I like a good touch of spice to my fried chicken. A and C had both ordered the orecchiette, served with grey oyster mushroom, pesto, cabbage and parmesan, while E tucked in to a bowl of beef parmentier (ok, the French fancy-ish way of saying cottage pie). Once again, delicious but salty. Hmmm…

Dessert is always the course I most look forward to. The malt ice cream with chocolate sorbet, coffee foam and vanilla biscuits was the perfect bait for me, and for the girls too. It was a perfect marriage of silky smooth ice cream and sorbet, with the sweetness tempered with a touch of bitter, while the delicate meringue and biscuits provide the crunch. But there was a small comment to make about the biscuits: it was (did you guess it already?) a little salty.

We enjoyed our meal – we truly did – but we could also do with less sodium chloride on our plates and duly informed our friendly and efficient waiter the verdict of the meal. I’d like to return perhaps one evening or at the weekend to see what their tapas or brunch are like, and taste a wider variety of fares. For now, getting a reservation online, via their official website, is still relatively easy but once things take off, who knows what it’ll be like?